Soap&Skin - From Gas to Solid / You Are My Friend (2018)

The third album from Soap&Skin, the working moniker for Austrian musician and producer Anja Plaschg, From Gas to Solid… marks her return with her first album in six years. From Gas to Solid… belatedly follows the release of the Top Ten albums Lovetune For Vacuum in 2009 and 2012's Narrow (an Austrian No 1) but in that time in between the artist has been busy, not least with the birth of her daughter and subsequent motherhood but as well with many other creative works such as composing for theatre and film productions, as well as film acting. From Gas to Solid…inhabits a similar world as previous works albeit perhaps partnered with a more balanced adult view than the raw, angrier aspects of those outings but still reflects the struggles to find meaning, answers, and a place to survive. Encompassing a range of musical allegiances - infused with tranquil electronica, militaristic percussion, whilst coupled with choral ambience and earthy ethereal grandeur, an expansive, stunning, wide-reaching album of dynamic beauty - the finale arrives in a serene interpretation of Louis Armstrong's What A Wonderful World. Recorded mainly at her home in a quiet leafy corner of Vienna, From Gas to Solid…is not only self-produced but self-played, which she explains "People tell me I work in an uncommon way, I sample everything, even when musicians are involved and liken how I make my music to painting. It means I can get over my educated mood, and more trust what I hear. It gives me more freedom." Soap to Skin, gas to solid, absence to presence - Anja Plaschg has kept moving, working it out, and she's returned stronger than ever.